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The Supreme Court on Thursday, May 15, slammed the Telangana government for deforestation in the Kancha Gachibowli area in Hyderabad and stated that the state should either restore greenery or be prepared to send its officers to jail. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih also observed that the government took advantage of the long weekend and that it seemed to be “pre-planned”.
The court’s remarks come after the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) probing the forest status of Kancha Gachibowli submitted its final report deeming the area a forest and recommending that the state government restore the greenery.
“We are putting you on guard, you are trying to defend such a thing- with all those officers involved, you will be in huge trouble… taking advantage of a long weekend, you do all these things… have you seen those photographs? Dozen bulldozers were arranged… prima facie, all this seems is pre-planned,” Chief Justice BR Gavai said, according to LiveLaw.
“If you want the chief secretary and half a dozen officers to shift to a temporary prison, we can do that… We are always advocates of sustainable development, the question here is felling of 1,000 trees, taking wrong advantage of the long vacation (used for deforestation),” CJI Gavai added.
The court's sharp remarks came after senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Telangana government, claimed that the tree-felling had not been rushed over the weekend but was the result of a year-long institutional process. Unconvinced, the bench questioned why the clearing began at the start of a long weekend if the process had been legitimate. The judges also noted that the state’s reply merely defended its actions and outlined plans for IT construction on the site, without any commitment to restoring the forest.
The CEC had earlier noted the Telangana government's failure to obtain environmental clearance and dubbed its decision to apply only for 'Consent for Establishment' from the state pollution control board by showing reduced project area as ‘piece-mealing.’
In its report submitted on Thursday, May 15, the CEC not only affirmed that Kancha Gachibowli exhibits all characteristics of a forest but also called for its designation as a “Conservation Reserve” under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. This legal protection would place the land under the care of the state Forest Department and provide safeguards against commercial exploitation.
The committee’s recommendations come just weeks after the Telangana government cleared vegetation and felled trees in the Kancha Gachibowli area, which overlaps with parts of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) campus. The move had sparked widespread protests from students and environmental activists, who accused the Congress-led state government of attempting to auction off one of Hyderabad’s few remaining green spaces for IT and infrastructure projects.
The 400-acre site has been at the center of a heated debate, with students calling it one of the city’s vital “lung spaces.” Environmentalists have also expressed concern over the potential ecological damage that large-scale development could inflict on the area.
Also Read: Telangana: CEC recommends forest status to Kancha Gachibowli, urges restoration